The Amnesty International Human Libraries – With Openness Through Reading

About the project:

The Amnesty
International Human Library – Openness Through Reading is an educational
project of Amnesty International Czech Republic (AI) focused on the prevention
of discrimination, racism, xenophobia and extremism.

In the Human Library students can borrow not only standard books, but also people, “Human Books”. They read their Human Books differently from the way they read normal
books, that is, by interviewing them and listening to them share their life
stories. The Human Books are people representing a variety of ethnic,
religious, sexual and other minorities living here in the Czech Republic.

The project
is unique mainly because it is not made up of lecture-like activities. Rather,
it is an open dialogue where opportunities arise to directly confront one’s own
attitudes. Meeting and talking with Living Books helps people from the majority
population overcome communication barriers with minorities and fosters their
mutual understanding. The program enables students to meet people they would either
not ordinarily meet or not be able or willing to talk to for various reasons. Human Libraries also make it possible for students to think about questions of
discrimination, social marginalization, extremism or racism in their context
and based on personal experiences, helping them overcome prejudice and
stereotypes.

Who can students meet in the Human Library
project?

Representatives of ethnic minorities

Refugees and migrants

People with disabilities

People with a minority sexual orientation

People with minority religious beliefs

People with experience with drug abuse

Homeless people

What are Human Libraries made of?

A Human Library: the meeting place changes with each Human Library. There is no fixed place the Library is based at. It can be organized
in schools and it can take place in classrooms or the school library. Simply,
it has to be a place where the Human Libraries can meet and talk to students
for a while.

Human Books: people with an interesting personal story,
often representatives of minorities, who face a variety of prejudices, forms of
discrimination or social marginalization. The Human Books share their life
story and experiences, answer questions and also ask them. They lead an open
dialogue and help increase understanding of differences, distinctions and
diversity. They enrich others and also learn from them.

Readers: students, teachers or anyone else who wants to understand
better the situation of minorities in the Czech Republic. Readers choose the
story that interests them most and then enter a friendly dialogue with the Human Book. The Reader listens to the Book´s story and then has the opportunity to
ask questions. This helps to tackle the Reader’s own prejudices and
stereotypes.

Librarians: people who make sure the event runs smoothly,
generally university students. It is their responsibility to take care of the Human Books and the premises on which the event is taking. They help students choose
their books and they assist during respective readings. They make sure the loan
period is not exceeded and that the rules of the Library are observed. They
make sure the Human Books have everything they need.

The idea: The Human Library project was conceived by members
of the Danish “Stop the Violence” movement which was founded in 1993 by a group
of friends as a reaction to one of them having been stabbed. The first Library
event took place during the Rockslide Music Festival in 2000. It was a very
positive experience noted by the Directorate for Youth of the Council of Europe
in Budapest. The Directorate supported its realization during the Sziget
Festival in 2001. Since then, the idea has been spreading across the world and been
adapted in many different countries. The main idea, teaching people not to
judge books by their covers and enabling contact between majority and minority
groups, remains, however, unchanged.